Away to Maidonians

So,on April 6,the second half of the VETS season began with an awayfixture against Maidonians.Co-incidentally,the Headbangers,that'stheir official nickname,honest guv,were our opponents on the openingday when we swaggered into division 2 and began our campaign with a6-1 victory.And although they started the season poorly their resultshave improved significantly recently(for some reason).. and thiswasn't a fixture we could afford to take lightly.Maiden are currently playing home games on the 3g pitch at the Scorecentre in Leyton,in the shadow of Leyton Orient.In my young days thisplace was the site of a huge cinder pitch,where on Sunday afternoonsin the 70's two impromptu matches involving teams of anywhere between20-30 players of varying abilities,ages,sizes,race,creeds and coloursregularly took place,without anyone seeming to be in charge,all weneeded was a ball.These games probably did more for communityrelations in the Leyton area in those days than any officiallegislation,testament to the power of football.So as that memory fadesin a Spangles tinted haze,and I put my scuffed adidas sambas away,wecome to the harsh realities of 2013 and Saturday's game.With GDunavailable our most pressing problem was a lack of a goalkeeper,sohats off to Roger for stepping up to don the gloves.The returningBazza emphasised in the pre-match that we train on a similar surfaceso the pitch,although in slightly poor condition for a 3g,should notbe any hindrance to our passing game.We lined up 5-4-1,with Martin Tin the lone striker..(and captain)..role.Grand National day, and fromthe whistle its clear we are definitely NOT at the races.On a spaciouspitch we seem unable to find either space or each other.Maidonians on the other hand settled from the off and put us underplenty of early pressure,playing as a unit from defence toattack.Despite this,we defended valiantly and Roger was alwayscomfortable with any efforts on his goal.To everyone's surprise it wasus who eventually broke the deadlock.Anthony skillfully workinghimself space on the right and feeding the ball inside to Darren whoseraking crossfield pass found MARTIN TREADWAY racing into the box toput us ahead with an unstoppable low drive...0-1.With around fifteenminutes to half time it was all about defending the advantage to thebreak.Unfortunately our hosts had other plans and by the time thewhistle blew we had conceded two disappointingly soft goals.We had tore-group and start all over again.H-T : MAIDONIANS 2 HALE END ATHLETIC 1At least we had the opportunity to display our talents at the aspectof Saturday afternoon in which we excell.The half-time moanathon.Soonce all the concerned parties had put their two penn'orth in,justenough time remained for a bit of tinkering. Martyn Saggers,after along lay off through injury,entered the fray joining the otherMartin..(now no longer captain)..up front,and in the early stages itseemed we had found our mojo,forcing a series of corners and goingclose from a couple of these.But yet again a lapse in concentrationallowed Maiden in for 1-3.We were reeling as Maidonians settled backinto their first half groove,and it was no surprise when they pickedus apart for 1-4.With nothing to lose we pushed on again,and it wasgreat to see MARTYN SAGGERS mark his return with a smart strike fromthe edge of the box..2-4 With only two goals in it and around 25minutes to play there was a glimmer of hope,but Maidonians held firmand as we tired in the final quarter they rubbed salt into the woundswith another four goals,some sublime some ridiculous and on the finalwhistle that opening day of the season seemed a long time ago.Final Score : MAIDONIANS 8 HALE END ATHLETIC 2Man of the match: ROGER GAYLE Team: ROGER GAYLE,HALIL HASSAN SEAN WINDEATT,HILARY FRANCIS, KEVIN WHITWORTH, BARRY SMITH, DARREN FOSS,SUHAIL BUTT,TAJU OYEDEJI,ANTHONY FURLONGE MARTIN TREADWAY,PAUL LAUGHEY PAUL OBINKWO,MARTYN SAGGERS BILLY HOWARD.

An afternoon to forget,and hopefully never repeat.As we enter thesecond half of the season we cannot afford any more of these.Onlythree teams this division can accrue enough points to reach the totalthat has been enough in the last few seasons.We are still in the huntbut performances like this against our nearest rivals will put an endto that.Ominously,Collier Row moved above us into third place onSaturday.On a brighter note it was great to see Sags back, doublinghis predicted playing time,and bagging a goal into the bargain.Welldone also to Roger for going in goal.There!Got through the wholereport without mentioning Teddy Sheringham......Doh!!!